


Parker Luck

by Barnesies



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack-ish, Featuring, Light Angst, M/M, No Underage Anything!, Parker Luck™️, Pining, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Secret Crush, Secret Relationship, Unrequited Crush, relationship coming out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28671321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barnesies/pseuds/Barnesies
Summary: Peter finally asks Harley on a date.
Relationships: Harley Keener/Tony Stark, One-sided Harley Keener/Peter Parker
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Parker Luck

**Author's Note:**

> I swear, I love Peter. But it's just way too easy to put him in this kind of situation.
> 
> Anyway, as usual, I re-casted [Dacre Montgomery](https://i.redd.it/lsldykzyl3b31.png) as Adult Harley Keener.
> 
> I guess this could be read as a sequel to 'Tis The Damn Season but you don't need to have read it to understand this work.
> 
> Kudos and comments are welcome. Enjoy!

Peter walked out of the elevator and froze.

He really should have known better; clearly Mr. Stark had no idea what counted as a “small gathering”, corporate or otherwise. Hundreds of people were attending, dressed like millionaires - which, they may very well be - while Peter wore his ill-fitted homecoming suit, a bowl of guacamole in one hand and a bag of chips in the other.

He swiftly abandoned them on the nearest counter, almost knocking over a very fancy and very old looking vase in the process, before moving away and into the crowd, looking for a friendly face.

Peter spotted Mr. Stark first. (How could he not?) The older man was standing next to Pepper Potts, fidgeting with his smartphone, as Stark Industries C.E.O. spoke to an older couple. She kept subtly glancing at her former boss and boyfriend until she seemingly lost patience and not so accidentally stepped on his closest foot with her heel. Mr. Stark’s head shot up and Peter took a step back. He did not want to get in the middle of whatever that was.

He looked around, hoping to catch sight of Happy or even better, Harley.

Peter had missed the latter during the past few days. He had gotten used to their daily meetings and Harley flying to Japan with Miss Potts had done nothing to minimize his crush nor his pining. 

Ned and MJ were getting tired (and in MJ’s case, irritable) of hearing about Harley too-perfect-to-exist-outside-of-Peters-dreams Keener. They had made Peter promise he would at least try to invite Harley on a date or you know, get useful information out of the guy for once, like how old he really was and if he was seeing anyone, rather than nerdy sciency anecdotes, which were interesting but also very unhelpful.

All reasons why Peter felt a rush of nervousness as he finally caught sight of Harley. 

He took a moment to breathe; it was (almost) funny how he could jump in front of danger without a once of hesitation but became an awkward (and coward) mess when face to face with his crushes. 

“I can do this.”, Peter whispered to himself before he joined Harley in his hiding spot. 

The other turned around when he heard him approach. He briefly looked surprised but soon enough, a warm smile stretched his lips… and Peter’s brain stopped working.

“Peter, it’s good to see you.”, Harley said, offering him a one-armed “bro” hug. “Happy belated birthday.”

Oh, God. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? What -

“Uh hi - I mean you too - I mean thank you.”, Peter babbled. 

He groaned internally, picturing his friends’ unimpressed faces. His interlocutor merely chuckled, probably used to Peter’s antics by now, which was both a good sign and utterly mortifying.

“I got you something by the way.”, Harley added. “It’s not much, I mean money really doesn’t help when everybody you know is rich -” Peter blinked. He never thought of himself as ‘being rich’ but he guessed he sort of was thanks to the scholarship Mr. Stark had offered him. 

“- here.”, Harley said and he was smirking as he held what looked like a chocolate barre to Peter. “It’s wasabi flavored. I remembered you were addicted to the originals so I thought you may want to try the Japanese flavors. There are a few bags, I put them in the kitchen upstairs, as I wasn’t sure you were coming tonight.”

Peter opened his mouth but no sound came out. Harley had noticed _him_. He had thought of him while on what must have been an amazing - and super busy - trip to Japan. He had brought back Kit Kats, which were, embarrassingly enough, a huge part of Peter’s diet because he cared -

“Will you go out with me? Like on a date?”, he blurted out suddenly, surprising himself - and Harley. Also, Harley’s shocked expression somehow looked hot, while Peter knew he must have looked like a (very stupid) deer. Like the one in Open Season. (“Elliot.”, his internal Ned voice supplied.)

Of course, because this was Peter’s life, Mr. Stark chose that exact moment to walk into their little private corner :

“So my guess is that we have approximately thirty seconds before Pepper found us -”, Mr. Stark said as he embraced Harley, bringing their faces close enough to -

“Tony.”, Harley tried, his gaze flitting towards Peter.

“- or it could be less, so I say we make the most of it.”, Mr. Stark concluded as his lips touched Harley’s.

Oh, God. 

Oh, God. Peter was so dead.

He was so dead because even if Mr. Stark didn’t kill him for coming on to his boyfriend, (Seriously though? How old was Harley? Peter kept wavering between 17 and 27.) his own embarrassment would do the job just fine. Oh, God -

“Tony.”, Harley repeated, breaking away from his partner’s lips. “Peter is here.”

Mr. Stark froze briefly before turning towards Peter, his arms still secured around Harley.

“Oh Kid, you made it, great.”, he said, his voice and smile strained.

Peter was way too mortified to articulate an answer. His face was on fire and his ears were ringing. He kept racking his brain but really couldn’t get past the fact he had just asked his mentor’s boyfriend on a date. How had he missed the signs? Were there signs? They had never been particularly affectionate towards one another in front of him (Which, duh.) but looking back Peter realized he had merely seen what he wanted to see. 

He had wanted Harley to be like him: a teenage mentee, despite every sign telling him otherwise. Harley wasn’t in school anymore, he had a real job as an engineer for Stark Industries. And while Peter shared his life dramas, Harley never really reciprocated. He gave advice. Like a mentor. And he lived with Mr. Stark, in the same apartment, for God’s sake! (It’s not like there weren’t any empty ones since the Avengers moved out!)

Still, he would have sworn they were friends. Just friends. And maybe they were. Maybe they were friends with benefits. Peter couldn’t decide if it made things better or worse. All he could think about was how inexperienced he would seem (be!) next to Tony freaking Stark. He could not even begin to compete. Not that he planned to. 

Seriously, what guy on their right mind would want his performances compared to Tony Stark’s? The man probably had some kind of honorific master or even doctorate at this point. Not that Peter really gave a thought to his mentor’s sex life. Also, he guessed Mr. Stark was hot for someone so... old. Too old.

Peter blinked after what felt like an eternity but was really no time at all and actually looked at the older man’s face. Mr. Stark had schooled his expression into his usual half-bored, half-condescending mask but what really caught Peter’s attention were his eyes. He barely ever saw the man without sunglasses and he was starting to understand why.

His eyes betrayed everything the rest of him hid seemingly effortlessly. 

Mr. Stark wasn’t angry nor even annoyed. He was scared. Of Peter. It was mind-boggling.

“I can’t believe you!”, Ms. Potts seethed - mostly at Mr. Stark - as she suddenly walked into their - now crowded - hiding spot. “What are you? Sixteen?”

Mr. Stark opened his mouth but she interrupted him :

“Don’t you dare.”, Ms. Potts added. “Now get back to work. Both of you.”

She addressed a disappointed look to Harley. Then did a double-take as she finally noticed Peter and blinked like she couldn’t begin to comprehend what he was doing with the other two in some hidden dark corner.

“Hi Ms. Potts.”, he somehow managed to say.

“Peter.”, she replied, obviously confused. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you?”, Peter said as Mr. Stark mumbled: “Belated.”

Ms. Potts glared at him and he held up his hands in surrender. She left with one last warning look and Mr. Stark dramatically rolled his eyes. 

“You should go. I’ll join you in a minute.”, Harley told his… Mr. Stark.

The older man pouted briefly then glanced back at Peter and his previous unease rose anew.

“Right.”, he said, breaking their embrace. However, Harley held him back just long enough to press a kiss to the corner of his lips.

Then it hit him. 

Oh, God. 

“Peter, I -”, Harley started hesitantly once they were alone.

Oh, God.

“Don’t.”, Peter cut in, his voice betraying his growing panic. “I mean, it’s fine. I never should have - It was stupid - I’m sorry.”

“No.”, Harley replied, frowning slightly. “I’m sorry, Peter. I’m sorry if I did anything to let you believe I -”

“You didn’t.”, Peter interrupted him again. “I mean, not really. You were… you. And you’re nice and smart and…” 

Hot. Just like Peter’s face as he trailed off. Embarrassed.

“Still, I’m sorry.”, Harley said after a short pause, a small sincere smile stretching his lips as he caught Peter’s fleeing eyes.

“I thought you were my age.”, he tried to justify and quickly realized it was the wrong thing to say.

Harley tensed and looked away.

“I’ll turn twenty next January.”, he admitted, his gaze focused on Manhattan.

Which was another way to say he was really nineteen. Peter couldn’t help but do the math: Mr. Stark was forty-seven so they had… a twenty-eight-year-old age gap. Holy shit.

No wonder Mr. Stark had looked at Peter _that_ way. He probably expected him to freak out. (And he was a little.) But it was none of his business who the two of them date. Harley was an adult. Hell, Peter would go as far as to say a fully functioning and responsible adult, like he couldn’t even begin to imagine himself be at the same age.

“What are you two doing here?”, a familiar voice said and they turned to find Happy… with his bowl of guacamole in one hand and the bag of chips under one arm.

“Hiding.”, Harley said, a slight smirk stretching his lips. “You two have fun. I’m gonna go find Tony.” He nodded at Peter and squeezed Happy’s shoulder before walking away. 

Peter followed him with his eyes while Happy shrugged and looked down at his phone. 

He watched as Harley joined Mr. Stark amongst a group of women and placed an arm on his shoulder. It could have been an over-friendly gesture and their companions were none the wiser. Peter wouldn’t have been.

“Should I be worried?”, he heard Mr. Stark muttered in Harley’s ear, as they took a few steps away from the group.

Peter knew he shouldn’t listen, even though he could, but they were talking about him, weren’t they? 

Harley didn’t answer at first, giving Mr. Stark an unimpressed look. Then his expression shifted and he detached himself from their elder, only to hold out one of his hands.

“Dance with me?”, Peter heard him ask and saw the glimpse of surprise on Mr. Stark’s face before he swiftly suppressed it.

“There are people.”, Mr. Stark commented, voice filled with sarcasm. And Peter was shocked to realize he was truly worried about what others would think of him - of them. A reminder Tony Stark was in fact human.

“Fuck ‘em.”, Harley answered, his Tennessee accent thicker than usual and Peter probably shouldn't have found it as hot as he did. “I’m ready if you are.”

Mr. Stark bit his lips, hesitating for half a second, before taking Harley’s hand and letting him lead them to the dancing floor. The music was slow and barely audible. Peter watched just long enough to see Mr. Stark draw Harley into another, even more intimate, embrace, then looked away. 

He caught Happy’s gaze and the Chief of Security rolled his eyes:

“Some people are just lucky.”, he said and Peter sighed.

_And some people had Parker Luck._


End file.
